By Breanne Williams – Reporter, Tampa Bay Business Journal

November 5, 2025

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After years of planning, Tampa Bay’s Regional Infrastructure Accelerator has started reviewing local transit projects to identify funding opportunities that could shave years off their proposed delivery.

In 2023, the city of Tampa received a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Build America Bureau to establish and operate a local RIA. It kicked off on Aug. 12 and has brought the Tampa Bay Partnership on board to lead the effort, and it has started connecting with local transportation leaders.

Bemetra Simmons, CEO of the Partnership and RIA office leader, said the RIA is designed to help local governments plan, fund and deliver major transportation projects. Though Tampa secured the grant, the RIA acts as a regional asset and will review projects in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough.

“We’ve met with everyone from county and municipal employees and local elected officials to CEOs of our big transportation agencies, whether that be the port or Tampa International and [St. Pete-Clearwater International] airports, our bus agencies and some of our largest employers,” Simmons said. “People are excited to know we’re trying to find ways to get projects accelerated and relieve some of this congestion and challenges we have from an infrastructure standpoint.”

Regional connectivity

The Tampa Bay RIA’s launch coincides with a growing focus on regional connectivity.

According to the Partnership’s “Beyond the Front Door: An In-Depth Look at Housing Affordability in Tampa Bay” report, Pasco had an average of 70 new residents a day in 2023. Hillsborough averaged 47 and Pinellas averaged 13 new residents a day. More than 259,000 residents were estimated to commute across Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough lines for work annually.

Roadways are increasingly operating over capacity as the region’s ballooning population navigates to and from work. The 2025 Regional Competitiveness summary reports an average 30-minute commute, with roughly 11% of commuters now facing commutes over an hour long. Congestion is estimated to cost residents 25 hours a year.

Local transit leaders have begun strategizing about which projects would have the most impact for the region. There are ongoing discussions on building a transit system to connect downtown Tampa with TPA, adding eVTOL options to the region, expanding multiuse trail systems and supporting the proposed expansion of Brightline from Orlando to Tampa.

Tampa Bay is also in the process of creating a consolidated regional transportation planning board to act as a united body as it pursues funding for projects.

Another tool in the funding toolbox

RIAs are operating across the U.S. to help existing agencies and governments unlock additional funding, thereby expediting their planned projects.

Kristof van Winden is a manager in HNTB’s National Advisory Practice and serves as the technical lead for the RIA. He said RIA is not redefining or reprioritizing projects, as the local transportation agencies are the experts on their respective needs.

Instead, they’re analyzing those proposed projects to determine which would most benefit from Build America’s financing and delivery tools. Many agencies are unaware of the USDOT Build America tools or continue to rely on traditional funding mechanisms that they’ve been using for decades.

“Right now, we’ve got say 100 different projects from the three counties and we’re looking for four to six projects that will be most likely to succeed with these tools,” van Winden said. “That could be innovative financing — essentially credit programs through the Build America Bureau — or public-private partnerships or innovative funding opportunities like asset monetization and value capture.”

Eligible projects include highways, transit systems, airports, seaports, intermodal facilities, transit-oriented developments and freight facilities.

Once the four to six projects have been identified, the RIA will advance the development of the proposed action plan for each project. The report is expected to be complete by June 2026.

The Tampa Bay RIA has biweekly calls with the bureau, according to van Winden. He said there is an opportunity for the Tampa Bay RIA to submit for a second round of funding to continue advancing the work. By the time the report is released, the group will know whether it has received additional funding.